UC-NRLF 


B    3    fllO    ET3 


UBRARf 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

^■^^LIFOR^I^^ 


^REEOBT  OF  THE'DELEG 


OF   THE 


'SOCIAL  DEMOCPiATIC  PARTY 

of  the  lliiilod  Slates  of  America  ^//3 

TO    THK  ^jUo'^ 

INTERNATIONAL  SOCIALIST  CONGRESS   /9^0c<^ 


l*ABtK8,    IS>00 


Although  behind  their  European  comrades  in  point  ol' 
numbers  and  influence  in  their  country,  the  American  socia- 
lists may  well  be  satisfied  witii  the  results  of  tlieir  work 
when  looking  back  upon  the  events  of  the  past  four  years 
since  the  last  International  Congress. 

The  rapid  growth  of  a  socialist  sontiment  among  the 
American  people  gf^nerally  and  the  growing  sense  of  solida- 
uity  and  class  consciousness  among  the  working  people  have 
been  prompted  by  great  events  (juite  new  in  the  history  of 
tiio  United  States.  Although  they  appear  to  the  Socialist  as  a 
natural  result  of  the  capitalist  system,  they  have  taken  the 
rest  of  the  people  completely  by  surprise  and  have  done 
more  to  stir  them  up  and  to  stimulate  thought  and  interest 
in  political  and  economic  questions  than  years  and  years  of 
Socialist  propaganda  could  ever  possibly  produce. 

Four  years  ago  the  bankrupt  middle  class  sought  to  pre- 
vent its  own  downfall  by  demanding  the  free  coinage  of 
silver  at  a  fictitious  value.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  in  their 
propaganda  the  Socialists  have  done  their  best  to  point  out 
to  the  wage  workers  that  tlieir  interests  would  not  be  con- 
served by  the  triumph  of  the  middle  class  which  had  nothing 
but  fine  phra«es  for  the  working  people.  In  the  elections 
the  middle  class  lost,  and  the  Republican  Party,  the  party 
of  the  great  capitalists  and  trusts,  Avent  into  power.  But 
looking  back  to  the  political  campaign  of  four  years  ago,  we 
cannot  now  help  recognizing  that  the  denunciation  of  plu- 
tocracy and  the  exposure  of  its  scandalous  reign  ressorted 
10  by  the  Democrats  for  political  reasons,  had  its  effect  in 
creating  among  the  people  a  spirit  of  distrust  to  and  dis- 
gust with  the  rule  of  the  capitalist  class  and  paved  the  way 
for  the  ideas  of  Socialism  and  the  political  solidarity  of  the 
vvorking  class. 


ivi55a946 


Tlie  cvcnls  of  llic  siicccedinji;  years,  llic  posilivc  work  ol 
our  Iriuniphanl  ploiilocracy  has  but  added  oil  lo  Lhc  I'lames 
ol"  social  discontent  and  wonderlully  laciiilaled  the  educa- 
tional and  organizing  work  ol"  Socialist  agitators. 

A  period  of  intense  business  activity  has  succeeded  the 
former  stagnation,  and  with  it  came  a  change  in  the  relative 
positions  of  the  various  classes  and  elenienls  composing  our 
body  politic. 

The  great  capitahsl^havg-CQiUC.to  feel  the  immense  power 
at  their  command  and  obedient  to  the  immutable  laws  of 
(leYclOpnient  which  bid~a  class'  to  grow  or  decay,  have 
'laimched  the  Uepublic  upon  a  new  course  of  colonia!  expan- 
sion and  military  conquest.  Radical  as  that  departure  is  from 
the  former  peaceful  policy  of  our  Republic,  fraught  as  it  is 
with  most  momentous  changes  in  the  further  political  deve- 
lopment of  America,  it  is  but  secondai-y  to  and  a  result  of 
another  expansion  of  our  capitalist  system,  which  marks  its 
entrance  upon  a  new  and  higher  stage,  probably  the  last 
before  the  inauguration  of  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth. 

The  advent  of  the  trust  has  stirred  all  the  classes  of  our 
people  to  their  depths  and  has  served  more  than  anything 
else  to  bring  out  in  striking  manner  the  soundness  of  the 
Socialist  diagnose  of  our  present  system.  At  the  same  time 
it  has  deeply  affected  the  inierests  of  each  separate  class. 
revolutionizing  old  methods,  ruthlessly  destroying  and  dis- 
placing entire  occupations,  thus  giving  ample  time  to  Ihou- 
.sands  of  people  to  think  of  the  wonderful  change  wrought 
by  modern  capitalism  and  their  possible  results. 

The  middle  class  has  also  been  deeply  affected  by  the 
economic  development  of  the  last  four  years  and  has  practic- 
ally been  divided  in  tw^o.  Four  years  ago  the  farmers  bur- 
dened w  th  debts  were  foremost  in  demanding  the  free 
coinage  of  silver,  and  it  was  they  that  furnished  the  larger 
j)art  of  the  Democratic  votes  The  coincidence  of  good  crops 
at  home  with  a  failure  of  crops  in  Europe  sent  up  the  price 
of  wheat  and  other  agricultural  products  lo  an  unusual 
extent,  and  the  farmers  not  only  improved  thereby  their  con- 
dition, but  have  come  to  see  that  high  prices  of  wheat  are 
possible  under  a  gold  currency  as  well. 

Not  so  with  the  industri4l  and  commercial  middle  class. 
While  they  have  also  been  able  to  improve  their  condition 
to  some  extent  on  account  of  the  better  times,  they  base  had 
to  suffer  greatly  from  the  competition  of  trusts  and  are. 
therefore,  more  dissatisfied  than  the  farmers.  The  Dem- 
ocratic Party  has,  tlierefore,  been  compelled  to  take  up  the 
<'  trust  evil  »  as  its  campaign  issue,  much  to  the  dissatis-. 
faction  of  the  corrupt  ring  of  politicians   who  stand  at  its 


licad  and  who  are  paid  hy  llu'  orcal  corporalious  and  Irusts 
fo  piwfiil  any  liostilo  k-gislalion  that  could  really  iiarni 
capilalist  interi'sts.  At  llic  last  moment,  however,  they  saw 
a  way  out  oi"  the  dilTiculty  in  the  llopublican  policy  ol'  impe- 
rialism, which  lliey  prelen  1  to  oppose  (allhoiigh,  they  have 
never  rel'used  in  Congress  to  vole  appropriations  ol"  money 
lor  military  purpose)  and  have  declared  it  the  paramount 
issue  ol'  the  campaign. 

Meanwhile,  the  working  people  have  been  listening  to 
the  Dcniocralic  denunciations  oI'iIk^  liopublican  policy,  liave 
been  reading  tlie  exposures  ol'  the  I  rusts  and  their  methods 
in  the  press  and  been  reeling  llie  (d'l'ects  ol'  the  latent  dcAc- 
lopment  of «  prosperity  ». 

The  idea  of  the  nationalisation  of  the  industries  con- 
trolled by  trusts  as  well  as  of  tlu^  inunicipalization  of  the 
so-called  natural  monopolies  which  has  been  gaining  more 
and  more  ground  in  tlic  United  States,  has  served  to  fami- 
liarize the  American  workingman  with  the  Socialist  ideals 
which  only  a  few  years  ago  was  a  bugbear  in  the  hands  of 
the  capitalist  press  to  frighten  liim  with. 

And,  as  is  everywhere  tlie  case,  the  capitalist  class  took 
care  lest  the  workingman  imbibe  the  milk  and  water  prin- 
ciplt  s  of  Socialism  which  tiie  middle  class  has  been  sprea- 
ding. The  great  conflicts  between  cap  tal  and  labor  w  hich 
have  been  assuming  greater  and  greater  proportions  in  our 
country,  have  helped  to  show  the  working  class  of  America 
that  the  class  struggle  is  no  idle  aijstraction  of  Socialist 
philosophy. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  an  adequate  account  of 
the  great  strikes  in  a  short  review  such  as  must  necessarily 
constitute  a  report  to  this  congress.  Suffice  in  to  say,  that 
several  of  them  have  involved  scores  of  thousands  of  men, 
and  have  invariably  led  to  the  interference  of  the  police 
and  the  military  force  in  favor  of  the  employers.  Wo  need 
not  add  that  the  Socialists  have  utilized  these  occasions  to 
point  out  to  the  working  class  that  wc  have  a  class  govern- 
ment, and  that  the  workers  need  not  expect  better  treat- 
ment until  they  learn  to  elect  their  own  men  to  the 
legislatives  bodies. 

The  most  notable  strike  for  the  open  brutality  and  dis- 
regard for  the  rights  of  the  Workingmen  displayed  by  the 
capitalistic  government,  took  place  among  the  miners  of 
Idaho  and  has  been  fully. described  in  a  pamphlet  by  one  of 
our  delegates  to  your  congress,  briefly  told,  the  Democratic 
(lovernor  of  the  State  combined  with  the  l»epu!)lican  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  in  shooting  down  peaceful  strikers, 
throwing  innocent  men   into  prison,  and    subjecting  t'.iem 


10  harbarilics  which   have  not  been  equalled  in  (he  annals 
of  lal)oi'  persecution  in  Russia. 

The  Socialist  Movement 

No  wonder  that  such  a  persistent  policy  ol'  brutality 
towards  and  contempt  for  the  working  class  coupled  with 
the  other  conditions  we  have  described,  facilitated  the 
spread  of  Socialist  ideas  and  has  resulted  in  a  rapid  increase 
of  Socialist  votes.  In  1896,  the  year  of  Presidential  election 
and  of  the  International  Congress  at  London,  we  received  a 
little  over  36,000  votes.  In  1897,  the  vote  jumped  to  55,000. 
In  1898,  the  combined  Socialist  vote  of  the  Socialist  Labor 
I'arty  and  Social  Democratic  Party  was  nearly  93,000,  and 
we  may  expect  double  that  number  when  the  vote  for  our 
presidential  candidate  is  counted  next  November. 

There  was  only  one  Socialist  elected  to  a  municipal 
council  in  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  last  Interna- 
lional  Congress  At  present  we  have  more  than  a  dozen  of 
Socialist  councilmen  in  the  various  municipalities  of  the 
country;  two  Socialists  are  disturbing  the  peaceful  slumber 
and  easy  conscience  of  the  capitalist  legislation  in  the  Mas- 
sachusetts legislature.  Comrade  John  C.  Chase  has  for  the 
second  time  been  elected  mayor  of  the  town  of  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  the  last  time  against  the  combined  opposition  of  the 
Uepublican,  Democratic  and  Prohibition  Parties,  and  comrade 
Coulter  has  been  elected  mayor  of  the  town  of  Brockton, 
Mass. 

The  integrity,  courage  and  enargy  with  Avhich  these 
Socialist  officials  have  discharged  their  new  duties  and 
stood  up  for  the  interests  of  the  working  people  who 
elected  them,  have  done  more  than  years  of  propaganda 
could  do,  l)y  giving  the  working  class  an  ol)ject  lesson  of 
the  soundness  of  our  position,  and  instilling  new  hope  in 
the  hearts  of  those  who  are  struggling  for  the  abolition  of 
wage  slavery. 

Still  more  wonderful  has  been  the  progress  of  our  press. 
In  1896  we  had  only  one  English  Socialist  paper  ;  at  present 
Ave  have  nine  weekly  papers  and  one  monthly  magazine, 
besides  a  numl)er  of  dailies  and  Aveeklies  in  the  German  and 
other  languages. 

When  we  turn  from  the  Socialist  movement  generally  to 
the  inner  development  and  progress  of  the  party,  we  regret 
that  we  have  to  record  a  series  of  strifes'  but  for  which  the 
success  of  our  movement  would  have  been  far  greater. 

At  the  time  of  the  London  International  Congress,  there 
was  but  one  Socialist  party  in  the  United  States,  the  Socia- 
list Labor  parly  :  but  shorlly  thereafter  tactical   differences 


nianilestcd  themselves  ^vilhin  its  ranks  Avliich  linally  led 
(0  a  split  in  the  party.  Briel'ly  stated,  liie  eliiid'  cause  of  the 
spHl  was  the  objectionable,  —  at  present  criminal  —  policy 
oi"  two  or  three  leaders  ol'  the  Socialist  La!)or  Parly  towards 
the  trade  unions.  Impatient  at  theslow  progress  ol' Socialism 
in  the  ranks  ol'  the  trade  unions,  and  justly  indignant  at  the 
corrupt  practices  of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  American 
trade  unions,  these  men  conceived  a  new  plan  for  the  speedy 
conversion  to  Socialism  of  the  American  workingmen,  namely: 
the  organisation  of  rival  trade  unions  which  they  called  ll'ie 
Socialist  Trade  and  Labor  Alliance. 

The  wisdom  of  organizing  a  rival  trade  union  lias  always 
been  questioned  by  Socialists.  The  last  International  Con-" 
gress  has  left  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  its  attitude  on  that 
subject  when  it  said  in  its  trade  union  resolution  :  «  Espec- 
ially difference  of  political  views  ought  not  to  be  consider- 
ed a  reason  for  separate  action  in  the  economic  struggle.  » 
Disregard  of  the  above  resolution  might  be  justified  perhaps 
under  exceptional  circumstances  :  There  might  perhaps  be 
sone  reason  for  it  if  the  Socialists  constituted  a  majority  or 
«il  least  a  strong  minority  in  the  unions,  though  even  under 
such  circumstances  the  wisdom  of  such  a  step  might  be 
(jiicstioncd.  But  when,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Socialist 
Alliance,  a  rival  organisation  is  set  up  by  a  handful  of  men 
lielonging  to  a  few  unions  mostly  in  one  city,  and  when 
that  is  done  not  through  the  initiative  of  the  workers  them- 
selves, but  by  a  few  ambitious  leaders  of  a  political  parly 
who  have  never  been  working  at  a  trade  and,  therefore,  are 
out  of  touch  with  the  trade  union  movement,  when  moreover 
such  a  step  is  taken  by  them  without  consulting  the  Social- 
ists who  have  spent  their  lives  in  that  movement,  then 
there  can  hardly  beany  doubt  that  such  an  organization  has 
no  right  to  exist.  The  Alliance  was  endorsed  at  first  by  the 
Labor  Party  on  the  express  promise  given  by  its  founders 
that  il  would  not  interfere  with  the  existing  trade  unions, 
but  would  devote  itself  to  organizing  the  unorganized  wor- 
kers. Even  at  that  time  some  of  the  Socialists  who  had 
more  experience  in  the  trade  union  movement,  predicted 
that  the  promises  could  not  be  carried  out  and  that  the 
Alliance  was  bound  to  come  in  conflict  with  the  other  trade 
unions. 

Experience  has  shown  that  even  these  non  did  not  forscc 
all  the  consequences  that  were  to  follow.  Soon  after  its 
organisation,  thcAlliancc  came  in  conflict  with  the  existing 
printers  union,  and  let  its  men  take  the  places  of  striking 
printers  at  lower  wages  ;  similar  conflicts  soon  follow^-d 
with  other  trades,  and   the  word    <•  Socialist  »    came    to    be 


^3'nonvmons  with  «  scab  t.  (blackleg)  amonjj;  the  trade  union- 
ists. Tlic  worst  ol'  it  was  that  it  rcl'lccted  upon  the  party 
which  stood  committed  to  the  Allianc«>  and  whose  oll'ieial 
organ  was  made  also  (he  oCt'icial  organ  ol  the  Alliance 
without  the  consent  of  the  membership  of  the  party.  Under 
these  circumstances  Iriclion  within  the  party  became  inevit- 
able, and  owing  to  the  arl)itrary  conduct  of  affairs  by  the 
party  officirs  and  open  disregard  and  contempt  for  the 
wilfof  the  rank  and  file,  led  to  open  revolt  and  the  deposal 
of  the  National  Executive  Committee.  We  will  spare  the 
Congress  the  recital  of  the  strife  that  followed.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that  the  deposed  officers  refused  to  lay  down  their 
mandates  although  the  majority  of  the  party  sustained  by 
a  referendum  vote  the  action  of  deposing  them,  and  they 
and  their  adherent  still  continue  a  separate  existence  under 
the  name  of  S  L.  P.  althrough  the  regular  organization  had 
retained  the  bulk  of  its  membership,  every  Socialist  writer, 
speaker  and  trade  union  agitator  of  note,  and  all  of  its  news- 
papers, except  one  Jewish  newspaper  in  New-York  City. 

At  its  last  convention  held  in  the  City  of  Rociiester,  in 
.lanuary  of  the  present  year,  the  party  rescinded  the  pre- 
vious resolution  endorsing  the  Alliance  and  expressed  its 
attitude  on  the  trade  union  question,  as  follows  : 

«  Whereas,  the  trade  union  movement  of  the  working 
class  is  an  inevitable  manifestation  of  the  struggle  between 
capital  and  labor,  and  is  absolutely  necessary  to  resist  the 
superior  economic  power  of  capital,  to  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  the  workingmen,  and  to  maintain  their  standard  of 
life,  and  ; 

«  Whereas,  the  class  struggle  carried  on  by  the  trade 
unions  tends  to  develop  in  the  workingmen  the  sense  of 
solidarity  and  political  independence  by  organizing  them  as 
a  class  antagonistic  to  Hie  capitalist  class  : 

((  Resolved,  that  we,  the  Socialist  I>abor  Party  in  National 
Convention  assembled,  fully  recognizing  that  the  exploita- 
tion of  labor  will  cease  only"^  when  society  takes  possession 
of  the  means  of  production,  nevertheless,  declaring  the 
duty  of  all  Socialists  to  participate  in  all  struggles  of 
organized  labor  to  improve  its  conditions  under  the  present 
system  ; 

«  Resolved,  that  we  hereby  recall  any  and  all  previous 
resolutions  expressing  preference  for  one  body  of  organized 
labor  over  another : 

■  liesolved,  that  we  reaffirm  tlie  resolution  of  the  So- 
cialist Labor  Party  adopted  in  1893  and  re-adopted  in  ISUr. 
recitmmeiiding  to  all  members  of  the  party  to  join  the  organ- 
ization  of  the"  trades  to  which  the  y  respectively  belong  ». 


—  7  — 

Anollicr  very  important  step  taken  at  that  (Convention 
was  llie  appointment  ol"  a  committee  of  nine  to  confer  with 
tlie  Social  Democratic  Parly  with  a  view  to  bringing  about  a 
union  ol"  the  two  parties. 

The  Social  Democratic  Party  was  I'ounded  tinier  the  lea- 
dership of  Eugene  V.  Debs  in  1897,  and  was  composed  at 
lirsl  of  souK^what  heterogeneous  elements,  its  social  ism  being 
rather  confused  as  may  be  seen  from  the  facts  that  lliey 
expected  to  inaugurate  the  era  of  Socialism  by  starling 
Socialist  colonies  in  the  less  populated  States.  However,  a 
period  of  about  one  year  was  sufficient  to  clear  up  the  vision 
of  its  more  advanced  element,  and  the  colonisation  plan  was 
thrown  overboard.  The  only  thing  after  that  which  kept 
that  party  separated  from  the  Socialist  Labor  Party,  was  the 
unsocialislic  attitude  of  the  latter  towards  the  trade  unions 
and  the  fanatical  seclarian  spirit  which  actuated  its  leaders. 
With  tlie  change  which  had  now ,  however,  been  brought 
about  in  the  Socialist  Labor  Party  there  w^as  no  more  reason 
why  the  two  parties  should  not  unite  into  one  great  liarmo- 
nious  organization  and  hence  the  appointment  the  above 
committee  on  Unity  at  Rochester. 

The  Social  Democratic  Party  wliicli  met  in  convention 
two  months  after  in  the  City  of  Indianopolis  received  the 
l>roposition  of  the  Rochester  Committee  with  greatli  enthu- 
siasm, and  in  its  turn  appointed  a  similar  committee.  The 
two  committees  met  later  in  New  York  City  and  formulated 
a  treatey  of  union  as  well  as  a  constitution  for  the  new 
united  party,  submitting  to  the  two  parties  the  names  Social 
Democratic  Party  and  United  Socialist  Party  out  of  which 
one  was  to  be  chosen.  By  the  referendum  vote  cast  by  the 
members  of  the  two  parties,  the  treaty  of  union  was  adopted 
and  the  name  Social  Democratic  Party  chosen  for  the  united 
party.  By  the  same  vote  Eugene  Y.  Debs  of  the  former 
S.  D.  P.  and  Job  Ilarriman,  of  the  S.  L.  P.  were  chosen  as 
candidates  for  the  respective  offices  of  President  and  Yice- 
Prcsident  of  the  United  States.  The  union  of  the  two  parties 
was,  however,  not  to  be  accomplished  without  friction.  When 
all  arrangemonis  seemed  complete,  the  national  executive 
Board  of  llieold  Social  Democratic  Party  issued  a  « manifesto  » 
advising  adversely.  The  union  of  the  two  greatest  Socialist 
parlies  had  become  a  necessity  and  although  the  officers  of 
tlie  former  S.  D.  P.  and  their  adherents  still  holdout  against 
union  and  maintain  a. rival  organization,  the  bulk  of  its  mem- 
bership iiad  joined  the  United  party  and  all  of  the  papers  of 
the  old  S.  i).  P.  except  its  Engli'sii  official  organ  and  the 
German,  both  of  which  are  conlrollcd  by  members  of  the 
Executive,  are  championing  the  cause  of  the  United  parly. 


—  s  — 

Present  indications,  however,  point  to  a  speedy  end  ol 
this  controversy  Avithin  the  ranks  of  the  S.  D.  P.,  and  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  comrades  over  the  accomplishment  ol' 
union,  the  popularity  of  our  candidates  in  Socialist  and 
labor  circles  and  the  extremely  favorable  circumstances  for 
Socialist  propaganda  wicli  has  been  mentioned  above, —  all 
point  to  a  great  Socialist  triumph  at  tlie  polls  next  novcni- 
bcr. 

In  conclusion  we  may  assure  our  European  comrades 
that  tlio  inner  struggle  through  Avhich  the  Socialist  move- 
ment passed  during  the  last  two  years  has  not  failed  to  bear 
good  fruit.  The  party  has  entered  upon  a  new  era  in  its 
liistory  and  looks  back  upon  the  time  of  its  sectarian  exis- 
tence as  the  initial  stage  in  its  movement,  unavoidable 
perhaps,  but  happily  left  behind.  Its  present  size,  form  of 
organization,  and  spirit  which  actuates  it  make  a  repetition 
of  any  attempts  to  rule  it  by  any  one  person  or  set  of  per- 
son?, impossible..  Its  frank  avowal  of  former  mistakes  and 
its  uniform  friendship  and  good  will  shown  the  working- 
men  has  won  it  the  sympathies  of  the  advanced  elements  of 
the  working  class  of  America,  and  make  it  possible  for  her 
in  no  very  distant  future  to  catch  up  with  if  not  to  excel 
our  European  comrades  in  the  work  of  advancing  our 
cause. 

Fraternellv,  for  the  Social  Democratic  Partv. 


Job  HAHRIMAN,  Jacob  ROMBKU. 

Dr.  S.  Ingerman, 
Delegates. 


Xew-yoik^  September  1900. 


1^  —  Imp.  .1.  Allcmanc  (commandite  d'ouvriers  syncliques) 
•")1,  rue  Saint-.Sauvcur. 


RETURN       CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 
TOiH^       202  Main  Library 


642-3 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1 -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-3405 
6-month  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books  to  Circulation  L 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 

DUE   AS  STAMPED   BELOW 


NOV  7    1976 

^ 

mm      OCT  11  76 

Alc^H^20,I977 

fftcci8.auG23  '(' 

fCQ  O  ^.    '0^2 

Yz.\j  <D  *  \^^^'- 

'.   '  .     ^ 

-;     , 

MAY  16 1997, 

. 

JUN  1  0  2000 

FORM  NO.  DD  6,  40m,  6'76 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA   94720 


U.C  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES  f 


CD^ED^E73b 


